When we think about online whiteboards and interactive whiteboards it seems that they could be the same thing. After all, an online whiteboard is interactive. While that’s true, interactive whiteboards are mostly used in in-person events, while online whiteboards dominate remote events. But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Let’s see what each of these tools is, and what are the key differences between them.
What is an Interactive Whiteboard?
An interactive whiteboard helps speakers display images, videos, documents, or slideshows during an event. And it usually looks quite similar to the traditional board, with one key difference – it has a touchscreen display.
Modern-day interactive boards have LED displays, and are running on some of the most popular operating systems. They even have special markers that are used for writing on these boards.
What About an Online Whiteboard?
The key difference between an interactive and an online board is that the latter is an online software or an app that shows a whiteboard over the internet. These tools became increasingly popular since the pandemic started simply because our classes, work, brainstorming sessions, seminars, and events have moved into a virtual world.
Which One is Better?
Interactive whiteboards were a huge step up compared to the traditional whiteboards, however, they couldn’t survive the test of time – especially since the world has moved into the online environment.
Let’s go through a couple of reasons which show why online whiteboard tools are better than interactive boards.
1. Portability
An interactive whiteboard can’t really be taken from place to place. It can, but it would definitely be costly, risky, and expensive. On the other hand, users can access online whiteboards from almost any device, as long as they’re connected to the internet.
This is why online whiteboards became so popular among remote workforces and remote students.
2. Number of Users
While 20 people can technically write on the interactive board at the same time – can you imagine what that would look like? Because of this, the collaboration among workers or students is lower. They can still pitch ideas, but there’s usually one person in charge of writing everything on the board.
With online whiteboard tools, hundreds of users could join a session. They can collaborate, they have basically unlimited space, thus having more opportunities to contribute to the project at hand.
3. Costs
Interactive whiteboards are a great addition to any physical classroom, but they can cost thousands of dollars, whereas online whiteboards are free or much more cost-effective.
Their price will depend on the type of features that you’d like to have, the number of users, how large your storage space needs to be, and so on. But even if you’re using it for thousands of users, you’ll still probably pay less than $1000.
Wrapping Up
Now you can see for yourself. Online whiteboards and interactive whiteboards are very different, especially when it comes to their costs, portability, and the number of users who can access them at the same time.
But, you don’t have to take our word for it – you can look for any online whiteboard tool and give it a go today.
Also read: Also read: The E-Signature: Google Workspace Feature
